My father worked in the coal industry the entire time I was at home. One of the unique things about the coal industry is that many coal miners go by nicknames. I spent most of my summers working alongside men who went by nicknames such as Hoss, Koolaid (man the size of the walking Koolaid pitcher from the 1980’s), Wildman (heavy drinking, long haired, tattooed maniac), Preacher (Wildman’s best friend), Dusty (coal truck driver who insisted on riding with his windows down), Perky and my favorite…. Sprag.

In hindsight, the whole gang was a bit like the seven dwarfs. I always wanted to be like Sprag. Sprag was probably illiterate by today’s standards, but was an absolute brilliant mechanic. Not only was he brilliant, but he was fearless. There were no repairs to large or complicated for Sprag. He didn’t know how to do everything but he always figured out how to get the job done. Simply put, he got stuff done. For that, he was invaluable. Sprag had an odd ritual that he did before starting any big project. While wearing a fresh set of coveralls, he would literally lie down on the dirty garage floor and roll around. After seeing this grown man act like this for the first time, I asked my father what was wrong with him, to which he replied, “Sprag can get to work now because he doesn’t have to worry about getting dirty.”

I’ve thought about Sprag’s garage roll frequently over the years. By removing anything that caused him to hesitate, he was able to get his work done very successfully. By not being afraid to look foolish, he delivered excellent results and became invaluable. By being willing to get his hands dirty, literally and figuratively, he was able to lead a crew of mechanics to accomplish jobs that other crews could not.

Your firm may not provide you with any garage floors to roll around in. I gurantee you are provided with numerous opportunities to get our hands dirty. Don’t be afraid to dive in on that messy client project. Don’t be handicapped by a fear of being proper or politically correct only to miss out on a learning experience. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes and putting a failure or two on your resume. Those who have had any level of success in public accounting have had their share of failures.

Coming into this buy season, some of you are going to find yourself in new roles and are going to be stretched. Let yourself be stretched! Some of you may be feeling some level of disappointment. Make it your mission to get your hands dirty and make yourself invaluable to your firm over the next 6 months.

Remember, this is YOUR CAREER. When your career is over, do you want to reflect on a safe career full of clean projects, or do you want to look back at a successful career full of learning experiences that started by getting your hands dirty?